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Wow! Your baby can read? Really?

All parents think their babies rock. But when a company says its product will help a kid master reading Harry Potter during the potty-training years, it needs solid science to support those claims.

The FTC says Dr. Robert Titzer and his company, Infant Learning, Inc., deceived consumers with ads for Your Baby Can Read, a set of DVDs, books and word cards that cost around $200. These ads and other promotional materials promoted the program’s ability to teach babies as young as nine months to read — with their skills advancing to books like Charlotte’s Web by ages three or four.

Your Baby Can Read ads claimed that the program gave kids who used it more of a head start in school than those who did not. The ads included infants and toddlers appearing to “read” and testimonials from proud parents praising Your Baby Can Read’s effectiveness. Using charts, statistics and fancy-sounding terms in the ads, Dr. Titzer, a purported expert in infant research, emphasized that scientific proof backed the program’s results. It added up to a very impressive and convincing pitch — as indicated by the millions of dollars in sales for Your Baby Can Read.

According to the FTC, however, the proof didn’t live up to the promises.

When considering any product, take a claim of "scientific breakthrough" with a grain of salt. If it’s a true “scientific breakthrough,” isn’t it more likely that you’d be hearing about it first on the news — and not in an ad? If a company’s ad prompted you to pay for an empty promise, report it to the FTC.

Comments

Well to tell you the truth ,I was one that really went out and bought those products for my grandchildren and friends and gave it to them as gifts. I don't know if I even should say anything at this time, I'm overwhelmed.

Don't worry!! You weren't deceived! Your baby CAN read, and babies learn easier than 5 year olds! You are a great grandmother to recognize that reading is important and opens the door to all knowledge! I think the problem might have been that they may have set people up for high expectations. My 4 year olds weren't reading Harry Potter, but my 6 1/2 year old absolutely devoured the Harry Potter books. The comprehension wasn't the same, reading it as a 6 1/2 year old vs. reading it as a 12 year old, but that is fine! She easily got the gist of the story. My kids have all been evaluated and found to be intellectually gifted, and I give a lot of credit to the early learning experiences. I think it is good for at least 10-15 IQ points. I am not selling anything and that is just my opinion based on things I have read. If it won't hurt, might help,why not? Lots of time sitting in grandma's lap reading favorite stories over and over again encourages early independent reading, too.

Works amazingly well. My five year old is reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series and Shel Silverstein books. Proof is in the pudding. Our three year old is now rocking "Berenstein Bears" and Dr. Seuess. The Ftc has it dead wrong.

I purchased also for my grandkids and all I can say is that the one daughter who used these every day and followed the curriculum are now 6 yrs and 4 yrs old, and the 6 yr old is reading harry potter books already! I think it just depends on how committed the parents are:)

My 14 month old is always excited for these books. Reading with dad is his favorite part of his day. He likes these far better than any toy we've gotten him. Write one of the 10+ action words or sets of words he's learned on a piece of paper and he will do it as soon as he sees it. I'm happy, he's happy, and we are communicating.

I am a very proud grandmother who introduced this program 5 years ago to my granddaughter who was 3 months old. Buy 6 months she was working flash cards by 1 year she was reading everything she could pronounce now shes reading second grade level at 5 yrs old and thats only because they only tested her to second grade level. I swear by this program i paid 50 dollars for and i wish i could have known dr. Titzer was in trouble.my family and i are truly greatful to him...my granddaughter has a bright future. Who knew before him that you could teach babies so early. Better than any school system

I used Glenn Doman's method with my first 2 babies, and added "Your Baby Can Read" to my 3rd child's homeschool preschool program. My 4 my kids could all probably read most of the words in Charlotte's Web or Harry Potter, but they tended to be intimidated by too many words on the page. My oldest daughter read Harry Potter in first or second grade. I know that in second grade she was reading the the second in the series. I thought the Tizler program was a little expensive, but great if you could afford it. You could make your own flashcards and videos, like he did for his kids. I felt like they were high quality. Definitely not a scam.

Your Baby Can Read absolutely worked for us. We started our two oldest at three months and followed the program exactly as advised. When they finished it, we started showing them our own word cards and let them watch the "Your Child Can Read" series which was included as a free gift with our original purchase. In the introductory video Titzer said that at some point in the program, children would start learning new words after only a few viewings. That happened with both the children around 18 months. At that point we transitioned to simple books. Our 3-year-old can now read easily from a third grade reader and our 2-year-old can read from a first grade reader. Comprehension has perhaps hcome more slowly than it would for a child learning to read at 6 years, because they have learned to read while their understanding and awareness was developing. But with patience and consistency, we are finally seeing our three year old demonstrate genuine understanding of what she reads. Both the children have picked up phonics along the way and can sound out new words. Our 3-year-old loves to figure out how words are spelled. We've done some minimal phonics work--teaching ABCs and that "B says 'buh'", etc., but we have not emphasized it. The children have picked up phonetic awareness mostly through exposure to written words. I really feel like Titzer and his company were picked on unfairly and subjected to scrutiny not given to other businesses.

I got this program for my youngest two back in 2008 it works. Both my children test at grade level in reading. They are in the 2nd & 3rd grade now. My only regret is not following Dr. Tizter recommendations completely. If I would have they would be even further advanced.

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